Advocacy Group Blasts Myanmar Over Anti-Muslim Violence

A prominent human rights watchdog group on Monday accused Myanmar officials, community leaders and extremist Buddhist monks of “coordinated attacks” on Muslim neighborhoods and villages.

Associated Press

Muslim refugees, pictured in January after being displaced in sectarian violence, get by in a refugee camp in Sittwe, Rakhine State, in western Myanmar.

The Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Watch labeled the violence, which saw more than 125,000 ethnic Rohingyas in the western Rakhine state displaced over the past year and scores of others dead, as a campaign of “ethnic cleansing.” The Rohingyas, an ethnic minority Muslim group with very limited citizenship rights in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, have been the subject of several instances of mob violence over the past year, with many forced to flee their homes and often Myanmar itself for fear of persecution. Thousands put to sea in rickety boats and scores drown each year.

The spokesman for Myanmar’s government was not immediately available for comment. Authorities though have promised to look into the cause of the violence and have promised to work with aid groups to deliver relief to affected areas. The government is expected to release a report within weeks about its investigation into the causes of ethnic conflict in Rakhine state, which will include recommendations on quelling further sectarian violence.

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The report was released as the European Union was expected to lift most of its sanctions against Myanmar, suspended last year when the Southeast Asian country’s government started transitioning from decades of military rule to a nominally civilian democracy. The arms embargo, however, is expected to remain. Governments and companies have continued to praise the country’s reform process after it shook military rule, though cautioning that Myanmar authorities need to do more to ensure that human rights are upheld in the country.

The report accused the Myanmar government of not intervening to stop the violence or punish those behind the attacks. The government did order police in, but media reports at the time support the Human Rights Watch report’s charge that police largely stood by during attacks over the past year, particularly violence in June and October 2012.

In addition, Human Rights Watch charges the Myanmar government’s failure to protect Muslims spurred additional attacks elsewhere. In March, sectarian violence rocked central Myanmar, leaving at least 43 dead, thousands displaced, most of whom were minority Muslims, and homes and mosques burned to the ground. Military forces were sent in to put down the mob violence.

Noting that rule of law in Myanmar remains weak and arrests of perpetrators of violence against Muslims remains rare, Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch, said the government must do more to ensure instigators of violence are held accountable “or it will be responsible for further violence against ethnic and religious minorities in the country.”

The advocacy report follows concerns raised by the U.S. Department of State on Friday of “significant human rights problems” in Myanmar. The U.S. department’s annual country reports on human rights noted “conflict-related abuses in ethnic minority border states.” Looking at developments in Myanmar last year, the State Department report pointed specifically to communal violence in Rakhine State, noting that tensions remain high and more than 100,000 are still displaced. The report, though, credited the government with granting the international community access to conflict areas and forming an investigative commission into the causes of the violence.

The Human Rights Watch report also addressed the ambiguous citizenship status facing the Rohingyas, many of whom are denied citizenship under Myanmar law. Most government authorities in the country consider the group illegal and urge that they be sent to third countries, particularly regional Muslim-majority nations like Indonesia and Bangladesh. This, the report says, is one of the most dangerous lingering issues facing the group. The report urges the government to amend its citizenship act, allowing Rohingyas to claim nationality and avoid statelessness and displacement.

“There are serious concerns that the government seeks to segregate the Buddhist and Muslim populations in [Rakhine] state, facilitating the deprivation of the fundamental rights of the largely stateless Rohingya,” the report added.

Other non-governmental organizations, including the United Nations, have also warned of an ongoing humanitarian crisis facing the Rohingya ethnic minority. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recently called for urgent help for displaced Rohingyas in Rakhine state, who could face serious flooding when the monsoon season starts in Myanmar next month.

“Tens of thousands of people displaced by violence in Rakhine State are now in imminent danger of yet another tragedy when the monsoon rains hit,” John Ging, the OCHA’s director of operations, said in late March, following a trip to Rakhine state.

Mr. Ging added that land should be allocated for the displaced persons, now living in crowded camps where they must stay, and that they should be allowed to move freely in the area.

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